OGONEK Preludes (1-5) Xak Bjerken, piano OGONEK Puzzle Pieces (1-4) Mike Truesdell, marimba Pianist Xak Bjerken has appeared with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, the Schoenberg Ensemble, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Disney Hall. He has performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Glinka Hall in St. Petersburg, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, and for many years performed throughout the US as a member of the Los Angeles Piano Quartet. He has held chamber music residencies at the Tanglewood Music Center, Spoleto Festival, and Olympic Music Festival. He is the director of Ensemble X, a new music ensemble at Cornell, and has served on the faculty of Kneisel Hall, the Eastern Music Festival, and at the Chamber Music Conference at Bennington College. Learn more... Percussionist Mike Truesdell is the third successive “Mike” to be the percussion faculty at Cornell University (previous faculty members were the amazing Mike Compitello and Mike Sparhuber)! Mike Truesdell has performed with the New York City Ballet, International Contemporary Ensemble, Lucerne Festival Ensemble conducted by Pierre Boulez, and with members of the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, Chamber Music Society, and Alarm Will Sound, among others. Additionally, he has recorded with Renée Fleming, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (Grammy® nominated), Charles Wuorinen, Gil Evans Project (Grammy® nominated), as well as co-producing the Zeltsman Marimba Festival double-disc of Intermediate Masterworks for Marimba, where he first met Cornell University’s illustrious emeritus professor Steven Stucky! Learn more...